malpractice in ob/gyn

[WakeMedHeel]

are there any residents out there who have advice on this topic? or even attendings? i want some real practical advice not just be told how bad the field is. i am going into this field and I want to know how it REALLY is and what I can do to protect myself. i dont know why more people arent talking about this. any advice welcome....

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[spalatin]

are there any residents out there who have advice on this topic? or even attendings? i want some real practical advice not just be told how bad the field is. i am going into this field and I want to know how it REALLY is and what I can do to protect myself. i dont know why more people arent talking about this. any advice welcome....

Because if it hasn't happened to you, you can only speculate. If it has, the lawyers tell you not to talk about it.

 

[ny skindoc]

are there any residents out there who have advice on this topic? or even attendings? i want some real practical advice not just be told how bad the field is. i am going into this field and I want to know how it REALLY is and what I can do to protect myself. i dont know why more people arent talking about this. any advice welcome....

Its bad..but It matters what state you are in.In the midwest its a much better situation, in places like Wisconsin,Iowa Minnesota etc.. the people are less litiginous,premiums are much less and the field is easier to practice.In much of the rest of the country..Florida,LA,PA,West Virginia come to mind premiums are high.A small group will need to be very productive to cover their ever increasing premiums as well as the rest of their overhead.Also the stress of dealing with this issue takes its toll emotionally on practitioners.There have been some reforms and further changes will be made but things move very slowly.If you practice in a large group or HMO setting the hassels will be less but so is compensation.There are many things you can do to protect yourself but an infant with a neurological problem has a high chance of leading to a lawsuit even with no physician negligence.Its just too lucrative a situation for lawyers to pass up.

 

[jvarga]

In much of the rest of the country..Florida,LA,PA,West Virginia come to mind premiums are high.

Don't know where you obtained your info, but Louisiana is not one of those states where the premiums are high. Currently, Louisiana is not one of those states that are in a malpractice crisis and, as such, premiums have remained relatively stable.

 

[ACSlater]

what are the chances of a baby having a neurologic complication? say even if there is no negligence? and why is this not accounted for?

 

[tiredmom]

what are the chances of a baby having a neurologic complication? say even if there is no negligence? and why is this not accounted for?

According to ACOG, 30% of obstetric claims against ob/gyns are related to neurologically impaired kids, even though less than 10% of these are related to labor events and most of those are not preventable. They also have the highest payouts, averaging $1 million.

More scary stats:
Mississippi has had 21 verdicts in the last 11 years of $9 million or more (not just ob/gyn).

25% of ob/gyn's say they were sued for care they provided IN THEIR RESIDENCY!!!!

Ob/gyn claims are the most expensive to defend, even when they are eventually dropped.

I don't know the answer to why they don't account for the non-malpractice related neuro impairments other than to point out the people making the decisions are those in the jury pool. Not many well educated people make the effort to attend and participate in jury duty - which I think is a sad thing. It's sometimes hard for people to understand that bad things happen without it being anyone's fault - especially with a kid in the courtroom to look at every day.

 

[ACSlater]

how do we help change things? this is an awful situation in the field-i love Ob but this needs to change

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

legislation. malpractice cap is a start.


see, britney spears can't sue her ob/gyn if her baby ends up ******ed, cuz the whole world knows she dropped her baby.

But what about those babies we don't hear about on the news...... some baby gets dropped, has internal bleeding which the parents aren't aware of; the baby gets seizures and becomes ******ed, and then they turn around and sue the obgyn. the obgyn then forks over $200000 cuz it's cheaper to settle. Does this **** happen?

 

[ACSlater]

i find it so ridiculous that this situation has been allowed to escalate to the point where people can sue whenever anything is wrong with their child! what are people thinking

 

[3dtp]

legislation. malpractice cap is a start.


see, britney spears can't sue her ob/gyn if her baby ends up ******ed, cuz the whole world knows she dropped her baby.

But what about those babies we don't hear about on the news...... some baby gets dropped, has internal bleeding which the parents aren't aware of; the baby gets seizures and becomes ******ed, and then they turn around and sue the obgyn. the obgyn then forks over $200000 cuz it's cheaper to settle. Does this **** happen?

What I've been told is that most of these suits are dropped early on. Med-mal insurance companies vigorously defend them because they don't want a reputation around the lawyer's pub (or is that bars) that they're an easy target. Unfortunately, the John Edwards' of this world have pioneered new legal theories like "birth hypoxia" that causes cerebral palsy. All you democrats out there remember this! Natch' someone must have caused this. The naturopathic crowd will say we don't need the evil ob's because women have delivered on their own for millenia. True, but they've also died with post partum bleeding, infections, and other bad things, as have the kiddos when a timely intervention wasn't available.

As a result, the c-sect rate is way up (even though there's no evidence that supports this making a difference). It makes the question "Why didn't you do a section sooner Doctor?" go away. Sighhhh.

 

[kas23]

What I've been told is that most of these suits are dropped early on. Med-mal insurance companies vigorously defend them because they don't want a reputation around the lawyer's pub (or is that bars) that they're an easy target. Unfortunately, the John Edwards' of this world have pioneered new legal theories like "birth hypoxia" that causes cerebral palsy. All you democrats out there remember this! Natch' someone must have caused this. The naturopathic crowd will say we don't need the evil ob's because women have delivered on their own for millenia. True, but they've also died with post partum bleeding, infections, and other bad things, as have the kiddos when a timely intervention wasn't available.

As a result, the c-sect rate is way up (even though there's no evidence that supports this making a difference). It makes the question "Why didn't you do a section sooner Doctor?" go away. Sighhhh.

1/3 women died of child labor during victorian era. Tell me we don't need an OB/GYN. We need to loby for caps.

 

[Heathcliff]

"I want to know how it REALLY is and what I can do to protect myself" -- WakeMedHeel

Suggested reading:

Keep What You Own: Protect Your Money, Property, and Family from Courts, Creditors, and the IRS

Adverse Events, Stress, and Litigation: A Physician's Guide

What Do I Say: Communicating Intended or Unanticipated Outcomes in Obstetrics

 

[PossiblePreMed]

It is enough to discourage someone from attending med school for obstetrics. I am heavily leaning in that direction very early in my schooling, and this malpractice issue has me scared!